Field-board for reporting foot-ball games.



No. 533,842. A Patented sept. 2s, |899. I

A. A. IRWIN.

FIELD BOARD FUR REPORTING lFOUT BALL GAMES.

(Application led Sept. 24, 1895.) (No Rodel.)

a n I e IELD E1n/IRD WlTNEEEEE- INVElN TDR l l 7;." Pn.

I PATENT trice.,

ARTHUR A'. IRWIN, or PHILAnnLPIIIm PENNSYLVANIA..

Fl ELoBoARn, Fein aEPoR-.rjl Ne troost-snm. GAM Es.

SPEGEFICATIQNoI-mng part of Letters Patent No.' 633,847, dated September 26, 1899.'

l `r'ipplic'ation tiled September 2145, 1895. .v erial No. 5634520. j(No modcl To all whom 721'; may concern.

Be it known thatl, ARTHUR A. IRWIN, o f Philadelphia, in theoounty ot' Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented cer-v tain new and usefullmprovements in Field'- `Boards for Reporting Foot-Ball Games, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to score-boards for reporting the progress'of and plays made in football games at points remote from the ield. A

It is the objectof the invention to provide such improvements in foot-ball score-boards as will indicate the movement of the ball upon the field by yard or other distances or spaces, so that the onlooker may know from the board not only the points and plays made, but the exact position of the ball from time to time as the game progresses as well.

In a patent granted to me dated March 6, 1894, I have shown and described a foot-ball score-board by which with movable slides or lpanels and inscriptions it may be indicated upon the field or elsewhere as to who is the possessor of the ball, the number of downs, yards to gain, die. Vhile this board is quite complete for indicating the vprogress of the game when used upon the field while the game is in progress and is essential to give a clear understanding by means of a bulletin of the plays made at points remote from the field, it is lacking in means for indicating the changing positions of the ball upon the iield.

To these ends my invention consists of an improvement in foot-ball score-boards embodying in its construction a board or panel indicating the foot-ball field, which board is provided with parallel lines or graduated scale-marks indicatingr yards or other specific distances or measurements upon the field from the middle or center to the goals, combined with an object representing the ball movable upon the said scale-board across the said parallel lines and between' lthel representationsof the goals, so as to indicate the exact position of the ball upon the field with reference to the center and the goals, in combination with other devices and features, all as I will now proceed to describe andclaim.

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters marked thereon, form` ing a part of this specification, the same let- Iters designating the same parts or features,

as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure l is a faceview of my improvement, showing it. as connected witha scoreboard, in conjunction with which it ispada'pted to be employed Fig. 2 is a rertical sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Y v v In the drawings, a designates a score-board of a construction substantially the same` as that patented'to me, as aforesaid, which scoreboard is constructed and arranged so as to 4show the points and plays made during the progress of a gaine of foot-ball, which score-board'is adapt-ed for use upon the iield tirasy a bulletin off the lield.

b designates my improvement, which consists of a field-board adapted to be used alone or in connection with the score-board to show the position of the ball upon the field With reference to the center c and the goals H Y.

yThe hoard bl is scaled by means of verti` cally-drawn parallel lines, which lines are numbered at desired points, so as to make .them indicate, say, tive yards of distances or spaces .upon the field, beginning with jive yards from the goal-lines and running up from each end to fifty yards at a line within `tive yards from the center or middle c.

d designates a slot formed in the board l) and extending across the vertical parallel` lines inscribed thereon, the said slot reaching from substantially one goalindicating point to the other.

edesignates an object representing the footbali, which object is provided with a stud f, extending into the slot d, so as to support the ball-representin g object c and permit it to be moved to anypoint along the length of the board `from goal to goal.

`The shankf may have a knob g formed on the rear thereof, so as to permit the object e to be moved 'along the slot from the rear of lthe board, or it may be moved from the front by merely taking hold of the object e itself. I have contemplated suspending the object e upon the board or supporting it in other Ways in front thereof, so as to permit it to be moved along the'latter unprovided with a slot, and by this means I attain .the same end as with the construction herein shown in the drawings; but what is .portrayed in the latter is ICO ` ature representation of a foot-ball field, the

lines representing the ive-yard lines of the field being substantially vertical, the said board having also a substantially horizontal guideway, and a movable object to indicate the ball movable along said guide'way, and the board being also provided with movable indicators for announcing the points and plays, whereby both the position of the ball and the points and plays of a foot-ball game may be visibly reported during the progress of said game.

In testimony whereof I, have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 15th day of August, A. D. 1895.

' ARTHUR A. IRWIN.

Witnesses;

WM. J. SHETTSLINE, FRANK HoUeHA 

